Monday, August 23, 2010

We began class with this opener (pdf). We then talked about the online pre-assessment you took over the weekend and how you should've written it down in your notebook, and how you should've completed your Student Checklist and rated yourself on how well you understand the material.

We discussed several varied examples of the use of ratios and proportions, including percent problems, and solidified our understanding of how to setup and solve proportions and percents (lesson, pdf).

We talked about how to prepare for the proportions and percents assessment on Wednesday, as well as encouraged all of you that need to to come in and re-assess over any areas of the Math Skill Assessment that you didn't score at least a 4.5 on.

Your homework for Wednesday is:

1. Prepare for the Solving Proportions and Percents Assessment on Wednesday. There are a variety of ways to do that including, but not limited to: review the online pre-assessment; review your notebook and/or the openers and lessons posted on the blog; review the video, work some practice problems in your textbook or that you find online. You can, of course, also get help from me, another math teacher, a teacher in the Study Center, a peer tutor in the Study Center, or a parent, sibling or friend. Do whatever works best for you, but make sure you're prepared. The expectation is that you should all be able to do very well on this assessment on Wednesday.
   
   
2. Review the following information on Professor Skip Garibaldi (below), and then re-watch the Math of Rock Climbing video. Then develop at least one question for our Skype session with Professor Garibaldi on Wednesday, September 1st. You need to submit at least one thoughtful question via this online form no later than 7 am on Wednesday, August 25th.
   
   Here's some additional information about Professor Skip Garibaldi from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia:
   
   I grew up in Fairfield, California, between Berkeley and Sacramento. It is beef cattle and apricot country, historically speaking. (I only personally owned beef cattle for a brief time, but I'm no rancher and my family's brand is not even legally registered anymore.) I dropped out of high school after my sophomore year and went to Purdue. I graduated from there in 1992 with a bachelor's in mathematics (with honors) and in computer science. Tired of the midwestern gloom, I moved to San Diego, where I spent 6 years earning a PhD in mathematics [specialization: algebra] at UCSD. After graduation, I had postdocs (temporary positions) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and at UCLA. After that, it was time to find a permanent job, and I was lucky to find a place at Emory University in Atlanta, one of the top 20 universities in the US according to the US News & World Report rankings.
   
   In Colorado I have mostly spent time in Fort Collins because of a connection with a professor at Colorado State (now retired). I love to climb at Horsetooth Reservoir and am looking forward to getting back there again sometime.
   
   Then read this article about the mathematics of the lottery that Professor Garibaldi has worked on. After reading that article, then read this slightly more in-depth treatment of the same research. Finally, glance at - but don't read - this more technical article that he co-wrote for a mathematics journal. Notice how the vocabulary and level of rigor changes from the general interest article, to the general academic article, to the one written for mathematicians. As your Language Arts teachers talk about, audience is critical when you write - this is a great example.
   
3. You'll need graph paper by Thursday.
   
4. Remind your parents of Back to School Night on Wednesday.